Long Lost Family (UK) S07E04

for thousands of people across Britain someone is missing from their lives I don't know her but she's my mom she gave me life and I need to know who that person is my son is out there somewhere if I could just see him put one you tell him that I love him with all my heart he's my brother I'm part of him he's part of me and if before I pass away I could find him I go to heaven happy finding someone when the trails gone cold can feel like an impossible task but that's where we step in we found your dad really offering a last chance to people desperate for help from DNA technology to painstaking detective work we've traveled the world uncovering family secrets and tracing people that no one else could find a unit an and finally answering questions that have haunted entire lives and CACI found us I'm sorry it took so long this week two people searching for answers to family secrets a woman who only discovered she had an older sister two years ago it was there your friends of Mahim black of why my mum had had a baby before I was born and I knew nothing about it and a man desperate to find the father he's never met elitist analysis about where I've come from I wanted that every single day of my life you you our first story comes from hartfordshire and a woman searching for the sister she didn't know existed for fifty years but being an only child all my life and then suddenly I found out that I had two big sister she was kept a secret where is she and why didn't I know about her [Music] Allisyn Holderness lives in Stevenage married to greg she has two grown-up sons Alison was born in Oxford the only child of bill and Barbara I was so lucky I had a brilliant childhood I was so close to my parents I never felt lonely I was just an only child - Barbara and Bill and we were a tight unit Allison's mother Barbara died in 1996 and her father Bill in 2015 it was only then that Alison made an extraordinary discovery I went to his house to start sorting through both documents the left when someone dies I went upstairs to his bedroom I opened the bedside table and there was a wallet black leather wallets I opened a and there were some photos that I hadn't seen before straight away I thought oh there's me a mum looks so proud and so happy in the photos but when I turned them over on the back it says Amanda then when I saw the date 1951 I began to realize that Amanda was my mom's baby my sister someone that I never knew existed I was absolutely dumbfounded I felt almost numb I couldn't understand why mum had never told me we were so close she'd had plenty of opportunity to tell me and she never did and that hurts [Music] when Amanda was born in 1951 Allison's mother Barbara was living in Oxford mum was the hairdresser she used to work with students from the Oxford colleges she was nineteen when she fell pregnant she wasn't married I think she would have been scared about what was gonna happen [Music] among her mother's belongings allison discovered a letter from the baby's father a student at the university it revealed that they were torn over the baby's future who they affectionately called bump My dear Barbara I think the answer is to consider what is best from bumps angle which course will give her the best chance of life at the time of this letter she haven't made up her mind she doesn't know whether she wants to keep her know whether she wants to let her go mum wants to give Amanda a best chance in life hope she did Amanda's birth certificate confirmed the painful decision her mother took at the very end it says adopted I don't know any more than that that's that's it part of me thinks if only we could have all been together why say it and packet is lump in my throat I'd love to find her she's a big sister but I have this fear that Amanda's not gonna want to know me that she'll feel that she wasn't wanted your birth parents gave you away and that's a big fear I've got to find and I need to know that my mom made the right decision when she was adopted Amanda's name would have been changed so to find out her new name we needed to work with a qualified intermediary someone who is legally allowed to access these records they gave us our first big clue Amanda was now called Elizabeth Jane fuzzy so we trolled records in the UK but all our searches drew a blank there was no trace of Elizabeth Jane fuzzy anywhere so we decided to search for Elizabeth's adoptive parents instead they both passed away so we decided to publish an appeal in their local paper and a family friend came forward with vital new information about Elizabeth Elizabeth was known by her middle name Jane and our search is over here had drawn a blank because she was now living abroad in Ethiopia this is Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia in East Africa we'd find out that Jane had been working as a teacher here but we couldn't find any up-to-date contact details for her so we put the word out among the expat community that we were looking for her that is when we had a breakthrough a woman came forward and told us that Jane had told her son and she put us in touch I'm on my way to meet Jane at her home on the outskirts of the city thanks / Alison finally actually had a sister came as a total Sean but how will Jane be feeling but she knew anything about her birth family and how will she feel about having a sister Jane is married to an Ethiopian are met the couple who have two children left the UK more than 20 years ago to settle here in Addis Ababa hello Campbell welcome to Addis come on in thank you very much this is lovely so how much of a surprise has it been finding out you have a sister huge amazing you have no idea I thought it was a scam to begin with and then when I realized it was for real I just couldn't believe it so tell me about your own childhood my childhood was was fabulous I was very happy the only slightly sad thing was that I didn't have any brothers or sisters so I grew up as an only child so when did you find out you were adopted I've always known and it and it was always very much put across as we chose you you were special and did you ever think of searching for your birth family yes I did a lot of times deep down although I've been very happily adopted if I'm totally honest I think I was frightened of being rejected or being not wanted again I've got something very special to show you your own mother holding you that's lucky my goodness that's beautiful I can see from the love shining out of her eyes she didn't want to give me up it's very sad that I shall never actually get to meet her but I think I'm gonna be just as pleased to meet Alison give her a big hug and take it from there do you have a picture of Alison yes I do [Laughter] there's your sister Wow so a sister and a mom just like that it's incredible I can hardly put it into words somebody that's actually related to me Alison has written a letter my dearest Amanda hello I have a big sister after being an only child for 52 years woohoo our mother was 20 when she put you up for adoption to give you the best chance in life I give you my love I hope that your childhood was as happy as mine and your life is fulfilled much love Alison I'm just so so happy that she came looking for me Alison's an only one and I'm an only one so now we're not only ones [Music] you have to see these that is my birth mom yes that's me beautiful beautiful and then underneath that's Alison NYSERDA see it was here same cheek and nose black hair which I which I knew when we met amazing you've come full circle you know lovey [Music] before we tell Allison her sister's been found our second search comes from Yorkshire and a man haunted by not knowing his father [Music] forty years have been searching for my father Oliva creation to him sense of belonging and wanted that every single day of my life I believe it's five weeks I've been Scott versus five weeks builder John Aiden lives with his wife Claire near Wakefield he has two grown-up sons from his first marriage and recently became a grandfather for the first time I love feeling proud grandfather's telphy it brings joy to my life another family runner they want to make sure by phone I feel loved because here's a child I didn't have that John was brought up in the village of Malcolm near Huddersfield [Music] for some reason I didn't feel part of that family I thought as I was unloved and unwanted my mom would say anything's like if you don't behave we'll send you back I don't say - what do you mean mum what do you mean it was only when he was 13 that John discovered what his mum meant signing up to his local football team he was asked to bring his birth certificate as proof of age or a star there waiting in terms of registered they came to writer and he opened out the certificate in front of him and see straight away from his look on his face was something different to the other boys birth certificates I asked him if everything was okay I said oh yes he's fine you adopted out you and I just thought what did he just say I'm adopted [Music] reality changed that day for me I just remember thinking we're more real parents have you alive well the biggest issue was why why man up with them [Music] when John Eden was 13 he accidentally discovered he was adopted looking for answers John applied for his adoption file my mother was called Marlene Marlene Monroe just 17 years of age her father's name was Kenneth Harrison 22 year old but no date of birth with this basic information John started to search for his birth parents he came to this library in Huddersfield and began to comb through birth marriage and death records the lack of fish after microfiche not finding anything in relation to my mother or father after several weeks John made a breakthrough for my mother Marlene couldn't believe my eyes I could see that my mother had died at the age of 19 it was just very difficult to take a thoughts turned towards my father it's a chance that he was still alive but with only scraps of information to search with John has been unable to find any trace of his birth father his name was Kenneth Harrison he's a plumber in Manchester that's all I know release my father I wanted to say you're my child and accept me I've always needed that connection a sense of belonging and I just hope that he's he's got some love in his heart for me [Applause] [Music] when John came to us the only facts he knew were his father's name and that had been 22 when John was born in 1959 so we started by searching for a Kenneth Harrison born around 1937 but that brought up over a thousand potential matches we needed to narrow the search so we turned our attention to Manchester where John was born and began a painstaking trawl through birth marriage and death records it took us over 18 months finally we find someone we thought might be him a plumber called Kenneth J Harrison who was born in Stockport in 1936 this Kenneth had passed away more than 10 years ago so we had no way of knowing if we found the right person but we did know that he had other children a daughter now living in Bulgaria and a son Stephen had we found the right Kenneth Harrison and if so was this John's half-brother the only way to be certain was to our Steven to take a DNA test if his DNA matched John's we'd know we'd found the right man Stephen lives in Paulton the file a market town near Blackpool we contacted him and he agreed to take the DNA test [Music] [Music] wonder how Stephen feels about all of this it's having a possible new brother like a bolt from the blue and having taken DNA test how will you feel now the results are here Stephen is the father of three girls from his first marriage and he's engaged to his long-term partner sue I'm bringing him the results of the DNA test so we can find out if he is John's brother [Music] afternoon hi Nikki Stephen pleased to meet you you too wait so when we contacted you how did you feel come really believe what I was hearing was quite a shock I just thought up well had no idea no idea about John yeah so I spoke to my mum when one wasn't as shocked as I thought she would have been really she went oh right just before when your dad got married he said I've got another child but moon said nothing was ever discussed again about that he said it once yes how did you feel if a father had another child by somebody then fantastic you know they can short share our life as well we don't know yet but I've got the test results here the DNA test to see if you are a half-brother with Johnny let's just say I'm now enclosed my report the DNA investigation formulas samples take from Stephen mark Harrison and John Edson my opinion these results off a strong evidence that you and John are close related us half-brothers share the same father wow it's a lot to take in yeah it has blown me away slightly about all I can't can't believe we've got an older brother here me obviously John's been searching for Kenneth for my dad yeah Kenneth and have you got photo your dad yeah there you go so that's the moment dad's wedding like the quiff were you close to your dad that's a good question I I thought was very close to him he was very very affectionate but then he got divorced from my mom how old were you about eight and then he just disappeared disappeared just disappeared I had no idea where he was what was that like for you devastating I missed him a lot so I went searching for my dad and it took me ten years to find him so when John says my life was difficult with my parents I wonder what it would have been like if I've been with my dad and you would say it was difficult - mm-hmm yeah you've got a lot in common error thing yeah yeah I think we probably have have you got photo that's what he looks like Wow it's Polly look at my father yeah the eyes his eyes are definitely same definitely well it's great because it's part of us he won't burn their half-brother would be my brother you'll be able to tell them about your dad yeah and it'll get the full picture from me was my dad like yeah we can was the pub just the two of us will tell John the news about his dad away from the cameras but before we tell him he has a brother [Music] Allisyn Holderness came to us searching for her half-sister Amanda who her mum gave up for adoption before Alison was born [Music] we found her sister living in Ethiopia and I'm on my way to give Alison the news finding out she had a sister was a big shock for Alison and ever since then she's been desperate to find Amanda so she can begin making up for the time that they've missed spending together and now she can because her sister's been found [Music] [Applause] [Music] hi it's good to see you Haidee coming thank you so how much of a surprise was it to find out you had a sister I was totally shocked I couldn't believe it I was almost numb with shock but my fear is that if I was lucky enough to find her and she turned round and said well actually I don't really want to know I get that she does want to be found if he found yeah she's been found she all right yeah she's good she wants to meet yes she does oh my goodness she was also known each other oh and she had a really happy childhood such a fantastic adoption brilliant recently mum made the right choice she went it was very preppy she's not called Amanda anymore no she's called Jane Oh lovely oh wow jeongsu picture I'd leave to a speech if you can take that back be my mum where is she well there's a story I'll come she's an Ethiopia oh she don't know bear she married an Ethiopian they met over here and they're fun enough they've got tanked grown-up kids lovely yeah she let you something oh right right a deep breath dear Alex then it was quite amazing and wonderful to learn that I have a sister a real sister it's just a fantastic feeling in my heart especially important is the fact that you have come looking for me now all these years on I shall just be so pleased to meet you and give you a big hug for so many years I've been an only one and now no more love Jay big sister eh oh that's fantastic oh yeah I can't wait you [Laughter] [Music] Jonathan came to us searching for his birth father Kenneth Harrison we spent over 18 months searching for Kenneth only to find that he'd passed away we've told John the news away from the cameras [Music] it's devastating news John's not going to get to meet his dad I just hope that finding out that he has a brother will help him get that family connection that he craves [Music] hello I see Queen Davina thank you thanks very much I'm really really sorry that we couldn't bring you better news have you been I don't think you ever totally prepared for it to hear that you your father's died but it's been really tough I think I'll need to have to grieve but looking back at what happened with my mother and at least I know is that some kind of myself a full life I have no idea what it means to be so first ever photograph I've seen of any member of my family so he lived most of his life in Manchester he staged a plumber okay and he died when he was 68 Wow it's really really strange the photo is like looking in a mirror I mean I can really see them babies oh my goodness the eyes what's something like here what did a but look at that yeah he was married three times okay he's got a brother and a sister your brother Stephen he lives just outside of Blackpool and your sister lives in Bulgaria oh yeah yeah you didn't know about you well he's really thrilled better that's great that's really really great news he's written you something yeah Dear John the last few weeks have been a whirlwind to find out that have an older brother basically racial mark exclamation mark I would be overjoyed to share the details of our dad's life I had some similar issues about finding my dad as you have had I didn't see him for over 10 years oh well I'm looking forward with excitement to meeting you and your father so it might become firm friends and brothers good man very good man I feel calm I feel the longing and that for me is is what I've missed that's what I've missed that's what really misses a sense of belonging there's a lot of catching up to do what I've got some news through that footage from her dad no oh my god see you know just to have a picture and it's got family you see a on my brother [Music] Wow I'm so pleased little bit [Music] today just a few days after finding out he has a brother John's going to meet Stephen for the first time I'm thinking about my father all the time I keep looking his photograph and it's with me now just saying no chance of seeing him ever but there's great great great news to have a brother and very excited it's the start of my life again I can't wait to meet him thank you very much John's brother Stephen and his fiancee Sue have travelled from their home in Lancashire I'm a bit apprehensive you'll be all right and I'll see you later you meet him a brother never knew our heart oh it's gonna be quite emotional we are blood and I'm hoping we're gonna be really good friends I can't wait [Music] Stephens going to meet his older brother at one of John's favorite pubs in the Yorkshire Dales [Music] [Music] gomey Oh love you [Music] [Music] oh yeah [Music] all right good to know [Music] I'm so happy I'm so happy that you're here because I don't have any good family where you know I've never experienced anything like this before no mutual I had no idea I had a brother absolute no idea whatsoever no you do look like that a lot forehead your eyes you do look like him a lot how would you find that I'm ecstatic about it and I know my sister will be as well all right that's great I have got some photos of you that's our sister Gaynor well it's a really really good that's really nice yeah last stuff of a connection with was so when I was a little as the sample as me all right yeah okay if I it's okay such a warm deep nice feelin I've got inside we do clay it's lovely that we do my John stepped through the door I was like see my father straightaway it's just family I feel as I've always known him will he be more and get married very soon I've actually reserved two places at the wedding for John I'm not asked him yet so I'm gonna ask him later on tonight probably and see what he says all the best mate you too I just wanted some feeling of belonging it's really nice to be able to call somebody brother it's lovely what's so smiling for that count [Music] you Allisyn Holderness discovered two years ago that she had a sister she knew nothing about today she's going to meet Jane for the first time how are you [Music] Jane has flown from her home in Ethiopia over 3,000 miles away to meet her younger sister [Music] thanks very much hi Jane hi Nikki that was the flight fine here we are now a long way from Addis are you nervous fairy fairies and also I've never been as excited as this before yeah it's huge absolutely huge what's it gonna be like you know suddenly meeting somebody where you're related so how you feeling that today ah excited nervous Oh just can't wait I so want to make a good impression it means it means so much to me I just want to live up to little sister expectations I don't know what that is I haven't had a sister before Jane and Alison are meeting at a country hotel just outside Oxford the city where their mother Barbara grew up [Music] quick you too bye good luck thank you [Music] fighting yes it is [Music] I'm gonna say goodbye here just through there thank you oh thank you [Music] [Laughter] [Music] we lucky to have each other very lucky come on sit down with both shaking I'm so glad I found you thank you for looking that meant so much to me we're both only bombs yeah and no we're not because I have you oh you've got me I want you to share my life but I don't want to intrude on your life if you don't want meat I'd love you to be part of it thank you why do you think so mom's kept it a secret I don't know I can't answer that because she never told me but she must have thought about you I'd like to believe that she wanted us to find each other when she wasn't there we're here now right now we're here at the start of something new yes at the start of the rest of our lives together absolutely give us a hug Oh immediately she went from being a stranger to just being my sister just part of me part of the family I just want to hug her and hold her I will be the best little sister I can get so much like um yeah beautiful this is ma'am oh this is you and we do look alike you do I feel like without realizing it for my whole life I've been waiting for this day to meet my sister Alison that feels fun plastic I've got something to give you this is where it all started black walnuts this is yours this has been kept safe until we've met that's incredible it's just amazing I've met that beautiful little baby in the photo I've met my sister I love this one because mum did your hair with my hair in this quick Mohican hi it's just so nice isn't it to have somebody to say that's my sister yeah that's my that's my sister [Music] next time on long-lost family a daughter longing for her father who disappeared from her life before she was born I just want my dad and it hurts not having him in my life and a man looking for the brother he didn't know existed for nearly 40 years he was a family secret and back then I think secrets remain secret [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Cinelic

Views: 599,820

Keywords: long lost family, long lost family uk, long lsot family, lost family, long lost family 2019, long lost family 2017, long lost family uk season 7, long lost family season 7, llf season 7, separated at birth, children given up, 23andme, ancestryDNA, dna test, davina mccall, nicky campbell, family search, long lost family s07e04, long lost family season 7 episode 4, myheritage, long lost family full episode, long lost family complete episode, birth family, biological family, llf

Id: ozIGLCrzfos

Length: 46min 10sec (2770 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 02 2020